Local News Headlines–4/15/2013

College Station Police blocked traffic in a residential neighborhood last night for about one hour following a report of a suspicious package. A resident in the Shenandoah subdivision said they found what looked like a homemade explosive device in the 4200 block of Alexandria. Surrounding homes were evacuated in addition to blocking traffic. Members of the police department’s explosives unit determined the package was a small tube containing spent firecrackers.

Texas A&M Police have been notified a student reported missing two weeks ago has been found alive. The parents of 19-year-old Andersen Puckett made the initial report. He was last seen leaving his College Station apartment March 24. U-P-D officers found Puckett Friday morning in Huntsville. No additional information was released about his whereabouts during the last two weeks or the circumstances of his being found.

A Brazos County deputy constable uses his Taser to stop a fleeing motorcyclist. The chase began Friday afternoon in west Bryan in the area of Highway 21 and Harvey Mitchell Parkway. According to the Precinct Two deputy, he saw the northbound motorcyclist pass two vehicles in a no passing zone. The biker, followed by the constable, then turned west on Sandy Point Road where the officer says speeds reached 100 miles per hour. The vehicles then turned on FM 50, where a second deputy constable blocked the road. The motorcyclist went into the ditch attempting to get around the roadblock. That’s when the first deputy, who says he feared for the safety of motorists on Highway 21, fired one shot from his Taser and knocked the driver off his bike. 32-year-old Sammy Catalino of Bryan was arrested and taken to jail for evading and four traffic offenses.

And, officials at Texas A&M have announced who will be the interim police chief. Current assistant chief for operations Mike Ragan is in charge while a national search is conducted. Ragan, a 1982 A&M graduate, has been with U-P-D for 33 years. A search advisory committee is in the process of being formed. All this follows the retirement of Elmer Schneider earlier this month.